Of Course
by TheChildGrim
Summary: Alec Banken, formerly 18, died some time ago, yet here he is: a "Straw-hat" in a world of pirates...


**Of Course (a random muse fic that appeared) **

**I do not own One Piece**

Blue eyes stared at the old framed photograph. Muffled laughter could just be heard flittering into the home from his children, yet he paid it no mind, seemingly content to fixing his gaze on the photo - on the boy frozen in time within it.

Nearly nineteen years had passed since the accident. The Incident. His cousin was three years older than him and even helped raise him when they were little. Dan had always looked up to the older boy, telling him his problems and stories and what he read or was into at the time. He was more similar to a brotherly father figure than a cousin.

It was supposed to be his first year in college that fall...

Dan smiled a bit when his son came in to show him a "deadly dragon baby" that was actually a black, blue-striped salamander. He indulged the child's fantasy before warning him to take it out of the house "so the baby wouldn't burn it down and make your mother angry." The boy, Alexander, left quickly and the muffled shouting soon started up once again.

Alec Banken. His wife had smiled at him with such a sad smile when Dan asked to name their first son after him.

Focusing once again on the picture in his hands, he locked blue eyes with silver-grey.

When describing Alec to his friends, Dan usually ended up with something along the lines of: "Neat, short black hair, tall but not enough to stand out, in shape but not buff, and has just tan enough skin to be mistaken for an Indian, a native american, a half-black or a Mexican." Once said, his cousin would faze in to reveal his personality in response. Alec's middle school biology teacher said it best; that her student was "A determined perfectionist with a sarcastic tongue that could switch to viscous without pause or explanation."

The usual reason was because he thought you were an idiot.

When he'd heard the news of what happened and seen the traffic tape, his 15 year old self was caught between breaking down in homicidal rage and laughing hysterically at his cousin's face and what he had _definitely_ been thinking in those last moments. Alec had seen the car coming and had dived to avoid it. He would have made it, too, if the teens in the car hadn't swerved _in the same direction he dodged to_. His face on the screen was a twist of pissed, disbelief, and the famous "were you dropped on your head as an infant?"

Dan had settled for hysterical laughing/screaming before passing out from lack of air.

Nearly two decades. What would have changed if he hadn't died that day? What was he doing now? Alec was never a very strong believer in... okay, he was an atheist. Heh. it would be unbelievably ironic if an afterlife did exist. The "determined perfectionist" would be proven wrong. Dan could almost hear the irritated ranting now...

* * *

><p>There was no sun in the sky, only the silver glow of the moon. Among the sea shells and pebbles strewn across the darkened beach were the broken and shredded remains of what was once a merchant ship. Dark splatters of liquid coated the wreckage, yet no bodies could be seen.<p>

Silver-grey eyes opened. A small figure sat up on the beach, its gaze calmly scanning the wreckage. Not for life, but for a reason. A situation. An explanation of where the hell he had been dropped to _this_ time.

A sharp sigh burst through the silent night as the figure gave up its search.

"Well. I wonder if I should be glad that I'm at least two and haven't been picked up by a group of Anbu or worried that I seem to be the only survivor of a ship wreck on a more than likely uninhabited island." Another sigh greeted the night air.

"So. What kind of storyline has islands and old fashioned shipwrecks? Maybe I'll meet Jack Sparrow sometime soon."

**Although I've had this idea for 3 months now, my motivation for it has not come to pass until August 13th when taking a shower in a rickety bathroom. I fell and now have a wonderful inch long gash in my right hip (no hospital or stitches, only a really annoying scab**.) **It really hurt to move so I was forced to stay still for a few days and this is the result. I am leaving for college in a few days, too, so this idea really sucks in its appearance. Stay tuned...or something like that...**

**Read and review if you can.  
><strong>


End file.
